Kyle Allen | The Company of Others

The Company of Others is a business that knows all too well the importance of rapidly adapting to changes in the marketing environment. After all, the Houston-based full-service media agency has delivered comprehensive advertising solutions to clients for over 35 years. During that time, the organisation has witnessed the growth of data-driven marketing first-hand, as brands seek to increase the accountability of their channel planning and communications strategies. Client expectations are higher than ever before, and finding optimal media mixes and budget allocations has become a growing challenge.

Kyle Allen is Executive Vice-President and Media Director at The Company of Others; a position he jokes is often about doing "whatever needs to be done". Kyle heads a team of approximately 30 staff who work closely with clients on all their media planning, buying and strategic requirements. His department also manages and leads many of the agency's research initiatives, and it was in this capacity that he first came across Pointlogic in 2006.

Finding the right tool

The two organisations originally worked together on an econometric modelling project, and Kyle's agency currently uses a version of Pointlogic's channel planning software called Unity. According to Kyle, the platform has helped many clients successfully navigate the multitude of media channels available to them. Unity has also been crucial in optimising budgets to meet clients' specific campaign objectives.

"Brands have a lot of questions regarding how best to allocate dollars across various channels, whether that's in-store, out-of-store or online versus offline," he explained. "Commspoint Unity helps us further our understanding around what different media channels can accomplish and how different media mixes work together to achieve specific goals that are central to our clients' businesses."

Optimising client communication plans

Unity had an immediate positive impact for one of The Company of Others' clients. Soon after implementing the software, the agency used the tool to analyse a new client's previous media plans after the organisation switched from a competitor.

"We found the brand was really limiting itself in terms of the number of channels it was using," Kyle says. "They were using two or three, but Unity showed they had the opportunity to broaden their horizons, while reducing their budget at the same time."

Despite some initial hesitance on the client's part, The Company of Others was able to convince the business to diversify its media mix based on Unity's recommendations. This resulted in a 20-30% drop in the client's channel expenditure and a boost to various brand KPIs across the firm's tracker studies.

Working with Pointlogic

For Kyle, accessibility is one of the key reasons why The Company of Others has continued to work with Pointlogic for the best part of a decade. He said even the organisation's top executives are just a phone call away if needed, something many other large vendors are unable to replicate.Furthermore, Kyle says Pointlogic is very open to opinions on how to customise their software and include specific features that are tailored to his company's needs. This high-touch, collaborative approach means Pointlogic is quick to respond and agile in the face of changing market conditions.

"If we have big and important questions, I feel like we're able to get to the right people relatively quickly," he adds. "They've been really great partners at taking advice and feedback from our agency, and they're constantly looking to improve the products and services they provide us."

"Pointlogic has a lot of vision, and a desire to continually improve their tools and services. They don't just sit back and be content with the products they have, they're really trying to satisfy marketplace needs." - Brett Dennis, Growth Officer Conill

"Commspoint Unity helps us further our understanding around what different media channels can accomplish and how different media mixes work together to achieve specific goals that are central to our clients' businesses." - Kyle Allen is Executive Vice-President and Media Director at The Company of Others

Pointlogic Commspoint

Brands have so many options when optimising their customer communications that finding the right strategy can seem an overwhelming task. Faced with specialist agencies in every field, an ever-growing number of contact points and increasingly discerning consumers, it's not surprising that organisations see just as many marketing challenges as they do opportunities. However, with the correct processes in place and access to sophisticated data and insights, brands and agencies can build a collaborative planning environment in which to make the best choices on communications budgets.